Half the child refugees in Africa's Great Lakes are abused (Tim Cocks)

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In one camp in eastern Congo, 43 percent of girls were estimated to have been raped.

By Tim Cocks

KAMPALA, Feb 26 (Reuters) -- More than half the children in refugee camps in Africa's troubled Great Lakes region have been victims of some form of sexual abuse, a report by aid agency World Vision said Monday.

Some of them are forced to have sex just to get food because conditions in the camps are so wretched, the charity said.

In one camp in eastern Congo, 43 percent of girls were estimated to have been raped.

"The situation for displaced children is bleak," World Vision Regional Coordinator Valarie Kamatsiko said. "At least one out of every two has been a victim of child sexual abuse."

Its report said the victims' fellow refugees were to blame, with people having power over children, such as school teachers or foster parents, committing the abuse. Some children had been forced to watch adults have sex.